Food Price Index is highest ever, war in Ukraine a factor
The UN gauge of world food prices surged 3.9 percent and now is the highest in the 18-year history of the Food Price Index, said the Food and Agriculture Organization. Prices rose in part due to concerns, ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, of grain supplies from the Black Sea region.
School Nutrition Association says go slow on nutrition overhaul
Next fall, the Biden administration will propose new nutrition standards for school meals, the first attempt to strengthen the rules since 2012. Health advocates are already starting to make their wish lists known—further lowering sodium, making meals more nutritious and, for the first time ever, capping the amount of added sugar in food served to students.
One-month bird flu toll: 12 states, 1.9 million birds
Highly pathogenic avian influenza was identified in three more states — Missouri, Maryland and South Dakota — said the Agriculture Department. Since the first case was confirmed on Feb. 8 on a turkey farm in southern Indiana, HPAI has been found in 21 domestic flocks in 12 states.
Today’s Quick Hits
Price gap shrinks: The price difference between organic and conventionally grown food is narrowing, partly because some grocery chains are selling store-brand organic products at the same time inflation is hitting conventional foods. (Axios)
Poultry wages: The Justice Department has put some poultry processors on notice to preserve records as it examines whether processors shared information about employment practices as a way to suppress wages for employees. (Wall Street Journal)
Year-round E15: Major farm and biofuel groups suggested the Biden administration use its regulatory power to temporarily allow year-round sale of E15, now barred during the summer, to stretch fuel supplies and hold down prices. (Growth Energy)
Oregon OKs overtime pay: Legislators sent to Gov. Kate Brown a bill that makes farmworkers eligible for overtime pay, with the trigger point starting at 55 hours a week this year and dropping to 40 hours a week in 2027. (U.S. News)
China wheat woes: Agriculture Minister Tang Renjian said the Chinese winter wheat crop could be the “worst in history,” the result of heavy rains that delayed sowing last fall. (Reuters)
On The Calendar
Monday
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visits Feeding Tampa Bay, a Florida food bank, to discuss the administration’s “historic efforts to ensure struggling households can put nutritious food on the table,” 2 p.m. ET, Tampa.
The School Nutrition Association holds Legislative Action Conference, through Tuesday, Washington.
Purdue University holds the annual Indiana Small Farm Conference online.
Tuesday
House Agriculture subcommittee hearing online, “A review of the farm bill: Rural development,” 10 a.m. ET.
House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing online, “Klamath River basin conditions and opportunities,” 2 p.m. ET.
The House may vote on a government funding bill, says House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. The government is operating under stop-gap funding that expires on Friday. Leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees said on Feb. 9 that there was agreement on the framework for a funding bill for the rest of fiscal 2022, which ends Sept. 30.
Informa Markets holds Natural Products Expo West, through Saturday, Anaheim, California.
Wednesday
USDA releases monthly Crop Production and WASDE reports, noon ET. Ongoing drought in South America will prompt USDA to reduce again its estimates of corn and soybean production in Brazil and Argentina, said traders in a Reuters survey. In February, USDA estimated the soybean crop in Brazil, the largest soy grower in the world, at 134 million tonnes, down 10 million tonnes in three months.
House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis hearing, “Confronting climate impacts: Federal strategies for equitable adaptation and resilience,” 9:30 a.m. ET, 210 Cannon. Witnesses include William Solecki and Lara Hansen, members of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
National Pork Producers Council and National Pork Board hold National Pork Industry Forum, through Friday, Louisville, Kentucky.
Thursday
The Labor Department releases the monthly Consumer Price Index report, 8:30 a.m. ET.
Commodity Classic, a combination of a trade show and annual meetings of corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum growers, through Saturday, New Orleans.
Friday
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is keynote speaker at the general session of the Commodity Classic, 10 a.m. ET, New Orleans.
Final day of general signup for the Conservation Reserve, which pays landowners to idle fragile cropland for up to 15 years. Signup for the Grassland CRP option is April 4-May 13.
Sunday
National Grain and Feed Association holds its 126th annual convention, through March 15, Charleston, South Carolina
